The NPMHU National Office has announced that Dick Collins, National CAD Representative and Assistant to the National President, will be retiring at the end of July 2014.  We are honored to recognize Dick’s unyielding commitment to the members of our great Union. 

Dick became a Mail Handler in Providence, RI in 1980.  After serving as shop steward, he was elected as the Administrative Vice President in 1990 and  reelected in 1993.  Dick joined the staff at the National Office in 1994, and since that time has been part of the Contract Administration Department and also has served as the Assistant to the National President.  In addition to countless contractual and other duties, Dick has played an active role on the Mail Security Task Force, in the Ergonomic Risk Reduction Process, and on the National Dispute Resolution Committee.  Dick also has been a key player in NPMHU contract negotiations, in the interest arbitrations to determine the 1994 and 2011 National Agreements, and in many jurisdictional arbitrations under RI-399.  Dick even has had the occasion to appear and present congressional testimony on behalf of the NPMHU before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management and the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce on Capitol Hill.  Dick has been an incredible asset to this organization and he will be missed.

We congratulate Dick on his well-deserved retirement and offer our sincere gratitude and thanks for the many years of work.  We wish to thank Dick for his long tenure, commitment, and dedication in serving the members of the NPMHU, and wish him all the best as he starts this new chapter in his life.

To fill the vacancy created by Dick’s retirement, President Hegarty has appointed Robert “Bobby” Blum, the current Vice President of Local 300, to the position of Assistant to the National President and National CAD Representative.  

Bobby Blum started as a Mail Handler in 1981 at the New Jersey International/Bulk Mail Center.  He has served as a shop steward since 1989, and also served as Branch President of the Monmouth (New Jersey) Branch of the NPMHU from 1990 to 2012.  He was elected to the position of Recording Secretary of Local 300 in 1999, a position he held until 2002, when he was first elected to his current position of Vice President for that Local, which covers the entire New York metropolitan area, including large portions of New Jersey and parts of Connecticut.  Bobby has been an arbitration advocate for Local 300 and has served the NPMHU as a member of the RI-399 advocacy team.  He also has been a delegate at each of the past six National Conventions, and has served as a member of the Credentials Committee during the three most recent Conventions.  

Bobby has attended a plethora of training classes for stewards and advocates on a host of contract, arbitration, jurisdiction, and legal issues, including the CIM and FMLA matters.  He brings an array of experience and knowledge to the position, and will begin his new duties at the National Office effective at the beginning of August 2014.  Please join us in congratulating Brother Blum on his appointment, and in wishing Brother Collins all the best in his retirement.